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Use of the Journal Impact Factor in academic review, promotion, and tenure evaluations.


ABSTRACT: We analyzed how often and in what ways the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is currently used in review, promotion, and tenure (RPT) documents of a representative sample of universities from the United States and Canada. 40% of research-intensive institutions and 18% of master's institutions mentioned the JIF, or closely related terms. Of the institutions that mentioned the JIF, 87% supported its use in at least one of their RPT documents, 13% expressed caution about its use, and none heavily criticized it or prohibited its use. Furthermore, 63% of institutions that mentioned the JIF associated the metric with quality, 40% with impact, importance, or significance, and 20% with prestige, reputation, or status. We conclude that use of the JIF is encouraged in RPT evaluations, especially at research-intensive universities, and that there is work to be done to avoid the potential misuse of metrics like the JIF.

SUBMITTER: McKiernan EC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6668985 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Use of the Journal Impact Factor in academic review, promotion, and tenure evaluations.

McKiernan Erin C EC   Schimanski Lesley A LA   Muñoz Nieves Carol C   Matthias Lisa L   Niles Meredith T MT   Alperin Juan P JP  

eLife 20190731


We analyzed how often and in what ways the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is currently used in review, promotion, and tenure (RPT) documents of a representative sample of universities from the United States and Canada. 40% of research-intensive institutions and 18% of master's institutions mentioned the JIF, or closely related terms. Of the institutions that mentioned the JIF, 87% supported its use in at least one of their RPT documents, 13% expressed caution about its use, and none heavily critici  ...[more]

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